Protection against product piracy - Using RFID to protect patent and trademark rights and safeguard technological knowledge

The variety of counterfeit products ranges from components such as grinding wheels, tools, lenses and knives to aggregates, assemblies or complete machines. Product piracy can therefore pose a threat to individual plants and ultimately to the innovative strength and competitiveness of any company.

Patent and trademark rights are infringed. Counterfeiting can also jeopardize a company's image. This is because neither functional nor machine safety is ensured by the counterfeit parts, which can hardly be distinguished visually from the original part. The resulting rejects at the customer are preprogrammed. And you are more frequently confronted with premature wear and product liability issues.

By clearly marking the original parts of machines and assemblies with RFID solutions, plagiarism protection is guaranteed. This is because the data carrier on the original part and the read/write head on the machine have protective mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access, for example through password protection or manufacturer-specific identifiers. This means that machines can only be put into operation in combination with an original part.